Admission Requirements
To be regularly admitted to a master's program in English, you must have completed an undergraduate major or minor in English with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 (B) and a GPA of at least 3.0 in all English courses. In addition, all applicants must earn a satisfactory score on the general aptitude section of the Graduate Record Examination. If these requirements are not met, an applicant may be admitted conditionally. Conditions might, for example, require completing prerequisite courses without credit toward the graduate degree, or maintaining a given GPA over the first 6-12 credits earned in the program.

To receive the M.A.T. a candidate must hold at least provisional public-school certification in English. If such certification is lacking when a candidate enters the program, certification requirements must be fulfilled while the M.A.T. requirements are completed.

Course Requirements
At least 30 credit hours in courses administered by the department must be completed. (Courses are generally 3 credit hours.) Students must also demonstrate reading proficiency in an approved foreign language, normally by passing with a grade of A or B a 300-level literature course offered by the Department of Modern Foreign Languages. (A graduate-level foreign language test provides an alternative for students who are prepared to read literature and criticism in an approved language.) Students must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0 in courses taken to fulfill degree requirements.

The total of 30 credit hours must include at least one course in professional scholarship, one course in critical theory, and one 700-level seminar. The total must include at least three courses in each of two of five available concentrations: (1) British literature before 1700, (2) British literature after 1700, (3) American literature, (4) English language and linguistics, (5) writing, rhetoric, and composition.

All degree requirements must be completed within five years of admission to the program.

Foreign Language Requirement
Reading proficiency in French, German, Spanish, or other approved foreign language normally demonstrated by passing with a grade of A or B a 300-level literature course offered by the Department of Modern Foreign Languages in which the reading is done in the foreign language. A graduate-level foreign language test provides an alternative for students who are prepared to read literature and criticism in an approved language. A student should begin working on the proficiency requirement as soon as admitted, and continue to do so every semester until it is satisfied.

Thesis (3-6 cr.)
Required of students who do not stand for the final examination; optional for others.

Final Examination
Required of students who do not complete a thesis, a comprehensive written examination. See director of graduate studies for details.

Prerequisite
Provisional public school certification in English. Students without provisional certification must fulfill certification requirements as well as requirements for the M.A.T.

Course Requirements
To earn this degree, students must complete at least 36 credit hours of graduate-level courses: at least 24 credits must be in courses administered by the Department of English and Linguistics, including one course in linguistics or the English language, one course in composition theory or rhetorical theory, and one course in ethnic or minority literature. Up to 12 of the 36 required credit hours may be elected from approved courses administered by another department. For students working toward certification, some of your education courses may count as electives for the M.A.T.

Foreign Language Requirements
None.

Thesis (3-6 cr.)
Required of students who do not complete at least one 700-level seminar.

B501 Professional Scholarship in Literature (3 cr.) Materials, tools, and methods of research.

B502 Introduction to Literacy Studies and the Teaching of College English (3 cr.) Historical and cognitive effects of writing, reading, and language use, and the implication of these effects for the teaching and study of literature and writing.

B553 Studies in Literature (3 cr.) Primarily for secondary-school and junior-college teachers of English. Emphasis on thematic, analytic, and generic study. May be repeated once for credit with a different topic.

C507 Writing Center Theory and Praxis (3 cr.) Examines techniques for responding to writers in writing centers, including nontraditional populations and writers in various disciplines. Understand and test cognitive, social constructionist, and collaborative theories through consulting in the writing center mentored by experience writing consultants and the director. Write journals, a case study outline, and a paper linking theory to practice.

C511 Writing Fiction (3 cr.) P: permission of the instructor.

C513 Writing Poetry (3 cr.) P: permission of the instructor.

C521 Introduction to Professional Writing (3 cr.) Discourse in professional disciplinary contexts (e.g., engineering, sciences, social sciences, humanities). Emphasis on research tools in professional writing and on methods of contextual, intentional, structural, and stylistic analysis.

C531 Theory and Practice of Exposition (3 cr.) Primarily for secondary-school and junior-college teachers of English.

C532 Advanced Argumentative Writing (3 cr.) Techniques for analyzing and constructing arguments for different disciplines and professions, especially the use of proofs, evidence, and logic; major issues of argument, such as the ethics of persuading audiences and the uses of style.

C601 History of Rhetoric (3 cr.) Development of rhetorical theory from Plato to the present, including the influence of historical rhetoric on present-day composition theory.

C602 Contemporary Theories of Composition (3 cr.) Current research in rhetoric and composition. Draws on insights from linguistic theory, cognitive theory, and rhetorical theory to develop greater understanding of the writing process and build pedagogical applications.

C611 Writing Fiction (3 cr.) P: C511 or permission of the instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

C613 Writing Poetry (3 cr.) P: C513 or permission of the instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

C682 Topics in Rhetoric and Composition (3 cr.) May be repeated once for credit under a different topic.

C697 Independent Study in Writing (1-3 cr.)

C780 Special Studies in Rhetoric and Composition (3 cr.) May be repeated once for credit under a different topic.

D501 Introduction to the English Language (3 cr.) An introduction to the nature, structure, and development of the English language.

D552 Linguistics and the Teacher of English (3 cr.) Topics in applied English linguistics, intended for English teachers at all levels.

D600 History of the English Language (3 cr.) Survey of the evolution of the English language from its earliest stages to the present, with reference to its external history and to its phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary.

D601 Introduction to Old English (3 cr.) Introduction to the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Old English and intensive reading of major prose and verse texts.

D660 Stylistics (3 cr.) Survey of traditional and linguistic approaches to the study of prose and poetic style. Attention to the verbal characteristics of texts, what they reflect about the author, and how they affect the reader.